So here it is! You guys asked and here am I answering, a LUSH empties blog post. I splurged at LUSH not too long ago on their 'Ocean Salt' face scrub, 'Curly Wurly' shampoo, 'Soak and Float' shampoo bar and their 'Mask of Magnaminty' face mask.
OCEAN SALT
First up, their 'Ocean Salt' exfoliating face scrub which retails at R165 for a 120g tub and R285 for 150g. It has a very rough paste like texture which comes from their mixture of coarse and fine salt. It also has an intense citrus scent and leaves an oily feel to the skin once it's washed off.
In all honestly there isn't much that I like about this product. I have really sensitive skin and when I first tried it out it definitely did exfoliate my skin especially my nose and skin in my problem areas, but it burned a lot and had a bit of a sting to it, my face turned red in areas and I had to use ice to cool it down. I also don't like the oily feel it left on my skin, it didn't feel as though my skin was clean but instead felt grimy. The different textures to this product is due to its ingredients, it has both types of salt, avocado butter, coconut oil and that sting and strong scent it has comes from limes soaked in vodka extract.
I'm pretty disappointed with this product and won't be repurchasing, the process of my skin burning and then having to cool it off with ice is a bit tedious not to mention kinda dangerous. If you have drier skin that isn't really sensitive then maybe give this a shot, but I don't think this will be making a come back to my skincare routine.
CURLY WURLY
Next up is their 'Curly Wurly' shampoo. If you've got seriously curly or even hair that's more of the wavy side then this is definitely a front row audience in your shower performance. This retails at R225 for a 220g tub of product. Curly fur tends to get dry especially at the ends and I'm sure you guys already know about the frizz overload, Curly Wurly works to keep your curls moisturized which makes it look a hella of a lot more shiny and soft.
Personally I love this product, I feel as though it really does keep curls beautiful and looking tame. If you're not a fan of coconut or coconut scented items, you might have to bite the bullet with this purchase because it's main ingredient includes, yeah I know I already gave it away, COCONUT (and a lot of it). Lush have even gone as far as to put coconut pieces in the shampoo which sounds sounds crazy magical but it's actually quite the opposite.
My only problem with this product is that trying to rinse out the coconut pieces can be a real headache, especially once you're done taking a shower, getting dressed, drying and setting your hair, only to find more pieces hidden away in your mane or having others point them out. Even with all this being said, I still would repurchase, I feel as though it really sets my frizz in place and keeps my waves looking far out. I can't really say that I will make a habit of repurchasing this and use it as a staple because I do have a very dry scalp and I feel as though this shampoo doesn't do much to hydrate it in any way, still a fave though.
MASK OF MAGNAMINTY
As much as I'd like to say "Insta made me purchase it" this was so not the case! The 'Mask of Magnanimity' has been a long standing favorite of mine for about 3 years now. I absolutely adore this product, it retails at R160 for a 120g tub and R245 for a 315g tub. I really do feel as though it cleanses my pores and removes any leftover makeup or grime that has been left on my face even after a damn good cleanse. The word that comes to mind after applying and washing it off is 'CLEAN', my skin feels so soft and even has a healthy glow to it as if I'd been chugging a dam size amount of water. This mask contains kaolin clay, peppermint oil, vanilla, honey and aduki beans (let's all pretend we what those are).
I like applying this to a clean, dry face, letting it sit for about 15 minutes (although if I'm being honest I let it stick until it's completely dry) and then rinse it off with warm water while making sure to gentle massive it in as I rinse.
There is a slight tingly sensation once it's onto your skin but not to the extent that your face is melting off though. I actually have no cons with this product, it's for sure a holy grail of mine.
SOAK AND FLOAT
Like I just mentioned in the Curly Wurly section I have a normal to dry scalp which usually results in dandruff. I decided to try out Lush's 'Soak and Float' shampoo bar which is made specifically for dry irritated scalps. This little, and I mean pretty little shampoo disk retails at R115 for 55g of product (which is a bit steep for a shampoo bar). First off this stuff smells sooo good, it contains cade oil which is said to be good for treating the dryness and rose oil which adds to the fragrance and also helps to soothe the scalp.
At first I was in love with this shampoo, it gave a decent number of washes, it smelt great and built up a really good lather allowing me to get a really deep lather rinse and repeat which is also a really good feature. What I really loved about it though is that it really did combat the dryness, itching and dandruff, I didn't have any flaking or itching which made the product well worth it.
However, this shampoo sadly came to the shower party with a number of flaws. Firstly, storage was an issue in the sense that you have to purchase one of their little metal tins to keep the shampoo in otherwise it melts away in the shower from all the exposure to water. Secondly, although it smelt so good, the smell didn't linger in my fur after the rise and dry, and what made it worse was that after a day or two my hair smelt disgusting as if I hadn't washed it for a good week or two, actually let's make it three, three solid weeks! Thirdly this shampoo made me shed like crazy, I mean hair fall to the max, in the shower while washing and during the dry and set. Lastly, this product suddenly stopped working, after about a month the itchy feeling and dryness came knocking and they brought their plus one, dandruff. I have not repurchased this product and I seriously don't recommend it.
Well that's it folks, I hope you guys didn't feel as though you were reading a set book for two. Thank you so much for giving my little ramble a read, please be sure to let me know your thoughts and opinions should you purchase any of these products I'd love to know what you guys think of them. Also a little side note, please be sure to test patch before purchasing any of these.
- courts xx
